Tuesday, March 22, 2016

On
Thursday March 17, the Society Against Sexual Orientation
Discrimination (SASOD) and the Advancing Partners and Communities (APC) –
Guyana Project held their seventh monthly “Lunch Talk” forum. This
month the discussion focused on “Women and Workplace Discrimination” as
part of a series of activities being held to commemorate International
Women’s Day 2016 observed on March 8.

Under
the theme “Pledge for Parity,” Commissioner Renata Chuck-A-Sang on the
Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) sat with Ms. Renuka
Anandjit, Programme Director of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood
Association (GRPA) and Mr. Nicholas Persaud, Stigma and Gender-Based
Violence Specialist at APC to discuss how women still struggle for equal
rights and opportunities, particularly in the workplace. The session
was moderated by Secretary of SASOD’s Board of Directors, Ms. Alana Da
Silva.

Not enough being done to address Gender Inequality

APC’s
Stigma and Gender-Based Violence Specialist Nicholas Persaud called for
strong policies to be implemented, not just drafted and sitting on
paper. “A National Policy on Sexual Harassment does not exist but even
if we do have legislative support there needs to be a unit to oversee
that this policy is adhered to and that everyone follows the guidelines.
We have transgender people being shunned and facing discrimination for
simply being who they are by “cross-dressing” to attend court.”

Cross-dressing
is only illegal if done for an undefined “Improper Purpose” – Persaud
pointed out. “This too doesn’t have a policy but where is the Unit to
support people who are discriminated against? Women being sexually
harassed in the workplace have no unit, nowhere to go to and it reaches
the media before any authorities take action.”

He
highlighted the need to educate and enlighten colleagues about
discrimination and harassment in the workplace, direct concerns to
administrators and encourage anyone who can address concerns through
realistic policies and most of all work towards respecting and
implementing them.

“Another
thing we have to look at” according to the Stigma and Gender-Based
Violence specialist, “is the gender disparity – there are differences in
accessing healthcare, attaining services, employment and pay. We need
equal gender spread in the National Assembly, electing not only based on
ethics and qualifications but diversity of our leaders; we need more
diversified representation in institutional bodies because Boards and
Governments of mostly men are a disadvantage to social progression in
all forms.”

Access to health services

Programme
Director of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA), Ms.
Renuka Anandjit, spoke on equity and equality of genders in society,
calling for the involvement of all in policy development and
implementation but also, importantly, education and public relations.

She
made a point of medical termination of pregnancy being legal in Guyana
since 1995 but this knowledge and even the institutions that offer
abortions are not widely known. This she described as shocking that for
two decades healthcare specifically for women is not widely available,
and even moreso, that there is a complete lack of awareness.

GRPA,
an organisation that provides a range of health-related services
vulnerable groups such as disadvantaged women, sex workers, sexual and
gender minorities, has partnered with the Ministry of Public Health in
several projects on sexuality and family planning.

Women
can now access abortion services from three national healthcare
institutions: Suddie Hospital in the Pomeroon-Supenaam area (Region 2),
New Amsterdam Hospital in the East Berbice-Corentyne area (Region 6) and
at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation in the capital (Region
4). The Diamond Diagnostic Centre and Linden Hospitals are preparing to
implement these services.

“We
need to enable greater access to services for women and girls; we need
to reduce these rates: the highest rate of suicide in the world, the
second highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the Latin American and
Caribbean region; sexual violence and domestic abuse – we are only
increasing the vulnerability of women if we do not strengthen policies
and have these services across the board and this need to be of top
priority,” Anandjit added.

Participants at the Lunch Talk (Photo Credit: Theresa Campbell, APC)

Pressure the Judiciary, Hold the Government Accountable

Commissioner
Chuck-A-Sang of the Women and Gender Equality Commission expressed that
Guyana has some strong laws, like the Domestic Violence Act 1996 and
particularly the Sexual Offences Act 2010 which are modern, progressive
and gender-inclusive legislation. Section 8 of the Prevention of
Discrimination Act 1997 prescribes that "any act of sexual harassment
against any employee committed by an employer, managerial employee or
co-worker shall constitute unlawful discrimination based on sex within
the meaning of section 4 of this Act."

In
her response as to what the Women and Gender Equality Commission is
doing to tackle gender inequality in the workplace generally and
workplace discrimination against lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT)
women who are often forgotten in these conversations the Commissioner
made a strong charge for the public to test the legislation and pressure
the judiciary to hold the government accountable.

Sexual
Orientation and Gender Identity are not included from the Prevention of
Discrimination Act 1997. She called this unfortunate on the premise
that people, women especially who identify as lesbian, bisexual or
transgender, do not have any legislative backing. “I encourage anyone to
find a lawyer who is willing to test the laws. We do not have many
lawyers in Guyana with such interests, but the people need to test the
laws and hold the government accountable” the commissioner said.

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About SASOD

The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) is a human rights organisation and movement dedicated to achieving equality and justice for all Guyanese, especially those suffering discrimination based on their sexuality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. We support similar work in Latin America and the Caribbean, Americas, Commonwealth, Global South and worldwide.